San Francisco made the wide receiver the 10th overall pick in this year's draft, but Crabtree has been unable to come to terms with the Niners, choosing instead to sit out the season to date. He remains San Francisco's property, however, and as such cannot negotiate with other teams.

The Jets have allegedly contacted Crabtree's agent to let him know that they are interested in obtaining his rights through a trade or by waiting for the next draft to select him.

The Jets organization predictably has denied the charges and issued a statement that the league will handle the matter "internally."

Nobody condoned the fact that the New England Patriots' "scandal" was handled internally two years ago. Evidently, different rules apply when a bottom-feeding team in the nation's largest television market is involved illegal activities.

This story comes on the heels of last week's news that the Jets had failed to report Brett Fare's shoulder injury last season. For that the Jets were fined $125,000.

If San Francisco's charges are found to be valid, the league will almost certainly fine the Jets, and the team could even lose a draft pick.

And people are still talking about a misplaced camera? If the New England Patriots ever cheated, it seems they are not alone.

Is there no end to the hypocrisy? Remember that it was the Jets' former head coach Eric Mangini who started the whole scandal that became known as "Spygate." And that was after he had been busted for the same illegal videotaping practices himself.

This story is likely to be swept under the rug, but we know about it and will be following it as "Tampergate."